An electric vehicle such as a fuel cell equipped vehicle generally employs high-voltage power of about several hundreds of volts to operate a drive motor. To transmit such high-voltage power, a high-voltage cable is used. At the time of an accident, such as a collision, it is undesirable if the high-voltage cable breaks and leaks a high-voltage current to the vehicle body and vehicle mounted devices.
To protect the high-voltage cable, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-127747 proposes a structure employing a body frame that functions as a vehicle body and as a system frame for supporting a fuel cell system. A fuel gas line and the high-voltage cable are arranged on the left and right sides of the body frame, respectively.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-161055 proposes a new monocoque body (frameless body) provided with additional floor frame members for protecting a fuel gas line and high-voltage cable. A fuel cell box containing a fuel cell and peripheral devices is mounted on the additional floor frame members. The additional floor frame members, side sills, and a rear frame are combined to form a Y-shaped frame. The high-voltage cable and fuel gas line are arranged between the branches of the Y-shaped frame.